Training - One-shot
by Captain Swan-Clace-Percabeth
Summary: So this is just a cute, fluffy one-shot about a Clace training session. Set after CoHF. It does get a little angsty in the middle but all's fair in love and war so our favourite couple gets things sorted out in the end (obviously)... Rated T for mild suggestive themes and mild Clace action


**AN: So this story has been edited and re-edited for about a week and I still don't think i got it quite right, it's just not clicking well, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. I wrote another author's note at the end, so let's see who's still standing at the end to read it. Honestly...I really don't know what happened here. I think it started out okay but then, when I continued, it just went bad. Like, really bad. My one-shots ****_are_**** fairly pointless and without a plotline whatsoever, so really not that interesting but it means so much to me when someone reads my stories. Personally, I think that there is something missing here and if you know what it is or just want to leave me a review, please do ! Reviews make me happy and flames improve my writing so all are welcome! Even if it's just a word...**

"Jace!" Clary whined, "I'm tired! We've been training for 3 hours! And you got me up at 5am! FIVE! To see the sunrise..." She finished with a look on her face that was half exasperated and half confused.

Jace huffed, "A demon is not going to give you a break. Ever. And, come on, that sunrise was beautiful, especially from the greenhouse... that was fun..."

Clary blushed from the memory. "Can we please just take a break? Maybe get something to eat? I'm so hungry, and I couldn't handle eating any more of Issy's soup last night...urgh!" Clary shudders.

Jace chuckles, "So glad I wasn't there... I don't think that we're quite done yet. We should practise sparring again. You're getting a little lazy with your defence, a demon could get its way round and get in a few good stings."

Clary sighed and dragged her feet into the proper fighting stance and raising he fists.

"Go!" Clary and Jace circled each other for a few moments before he made the first move; he always did. Clary ducked and tried to slip past him while landing a right punch to his side. Jace predicted the move and blocked her punch. They switched sides and came back up, hands raised. Clary had her eyes narrowed in concentration while sweat formed on her brow.

Clary moved forward and kicked out at him while he grabbed her leg and yanked, successfully pulling her to the ground. Jace knelt down over her and pinned her legs underneath his and her hands across her chest. Clary huffed and blew wisps of her hair out of her face.

She glared up at Jace, "You can let me go now."

Jace grinned mischievously, "Not yet." Just as he ducked his head to kiss her, Clary turned her face so that he got her cheek.

Jace pulled back and frowned, "What's up?"

Clary just rolled her eyes and wriggled under Jace, indicating that he should let her go but Jace held firm; he wasn't going to let her go until she told him why she was all moody all of a sudden.

"Clary," Jace's tone was persuasive and yet, Clary avoided his eyes. Not an easy task when that someone was looming over her which left Clary powerless against Jace. She stopped wriggling under Jace and sighed.

"I just need to take a break," Clary said quietly. She looked up at him, "5 minutes?'

Jace didn't believe for a second that Clary's fatigue was the cause of her abrupt change in , but he didn't push her for it: she would tell him in her own time. "5 minutes," Jace gave her a small smile and sat back, letting Clary find her feet and make her way to the shelf where she took a few sips of water, staring at a patch of wall with cracks that spider-webbed across the surface.

Clary stared at the cracks, sipping her water and breathing deeply. She knew she shouldn't be angry with Jace, he was only doing this at her request, but she was so tired. She always pushed herself so hard when it came to training, because, despite her vigorous training between her first demon fight and the final battle, Clary was still behind in her Shadowhunter training, especially when it came to Jace's abilities. Clary was sick of being the weak link, the one with less training, less experience. Despite it being the truth, Clary hated it and wanted to redeem herself by improving her fighting style, tact and kill rate. If she could only beat Jace once, just once...

Clary took one last sip of water, put her bottle down and walked back to the sparring ring once more. Across the room, Jace set his own bottle down and walked over to the weapons wall and grabbed two practice blades from the shelf.

Clary tried, and failed, to raise an eyebrow at the blades; she ended up just raising both. Jace had to fight the smirk that threatened to cross his face. Instead he held out one of the blades to Clary with a small bow. Clary took it with a small smile.

Jace straightened up and raised his eyebrows at her while lifting his sword: a challenge. "Maybe you could practice the disarming technique I taught you on Monday?'

A wicked smile crossed Clary's face and she raised her blade in retaliation.

Without warning, Jace lunged forward. Clary raised her own sword at the last moment and their blades clashed together, the resounding clang echoed through the room. The force of the hit pushed Clary back several steps. Jace paid no attention to the glare that Clary sent his way and continued to advance. As she parried Jace's swings, Clary thought about how she could gain the upper hand and win the fight using the technique that Jace taught her.

Casting her mind back to the other day, Clary remembered Jace telling her that in order to win the fight, she has to learn to strike back rather than waiting for the demon to tire and then striking under its defence, which wastes too much energy anyway. As Jace made his next well-placed swing at her right shoulder, she ducked under the blade and slipped past Jace's side, trailing her blade across his exposed underarm. The blow would have sliced through Jace's side if they were using proper blades instead of the blunt practices swords.

Jace whirled around to face her again, only his slightly wide eyes showing his surprise, as she struck again, this time at his left leg. Jace parried the blow but Clary now had the upper hand. if she could only get Jace in the position she wanted him...

Jace unexpectedly ducked under her next swing easily and swiped at her side, trailing his blade along her side which left her unharmed but it caused Jace to win the upper hand again. He attacked her with vigour and she was helpless to do anything but block everything he swung at her.

Just as Clary began to tire and give up, she noticed a spot of weakness that Jace left open, which was strange because he usually defended himself so well. Clary dismissed the thought as a result of fatigue and she took the opportunity. She blocked his next swing and struck out at the spot that he left undefended near his left hip. The blade struck its mark and as Clary twisted the handle, she was sorely reminded of the time she struck a similar point closer to his heart with Glorious, the archangel's blade. Clary shook her head to clear it as she firmly reminded herself that they were just training and Jace was fine, if a little winded by the jab at his gut.

If they were using proper blades then Jace would have been stabbed right through his stomach, however, the blade bent a little before slipped off to Jace's side, leaving him unharmed. Clary knocked his sword to the ground, judo-flipped him and placed her knee on his throat for good measure, holding him to the ground. She stayed there for a few seconds before she pulled back, breathing heavily.

Jace closed his eyes and lay on the ground for a few moments before he chuckled. "Good job."

Clary tried to suppress the grin that fought its way across her face; and failed. Clary walked over to the shelf where she kept her stuff and Jace did the same, across the room.

"But you know, the demon isn't always going to make it so easy for you. The smarter demons won't leave a spot open for you," Jace said casually as he took a drink from his bottle.

Clary froze with her water bottle half-way to her mouth and she spun around with a frown on her face. " You knew? You went easy on me?" Jace shrugged nonchalantly. Clary's face turned murderous as she slammed her water bottle back on the table.

"How am I supposed to learn if you're not even trying?"

Jace opened his mouth to defend himself but Clary just glared at him and threw her practice blade at the floor where it stuck out of the boards. Clary didn't know where all this rage was coming from, although she supposed it had to be a mixture of exhaustion, frustration and obvious annoyance that Jace wasn't even trying. He just raised an eyebrow at her which infuriated her even more.

Clary stormed towards the door and gave Jace one last withering look over her shoulder before slamming the door.

Jace sighed. He knew he shouldn't have pushed her but she had so much to learn. Despite Clary's extraordinary abilities, both inside and outside of the training room, and her determination to catch-up with Jace and Isabelle and Alec who had been training since they were 5; she was really struggling. Her frustration when she couldn't get a skill right, while entertaining to watch, was upsetting her even more, especially when Jace tried - and failed - to conceal his grin at her attempts.

Jace knew that he should go after her, but he'd had a tough day himself and Clary really didn't like being reasoned with when she was in a mood. He figured that he'd let Clary cool off while he showered and maybe, if he was lucky, Isabelle would intercept her and calm her down before Jace finished.

He slung his bag over his shoulder and trudged down the long hallways of the Institute to his room. He passed the kitchen and contemplated going in to get some food but he heard loud noises from behind the closed door, which meant one of three things. Either Isabelle was trying cook, Clary was _actually_ cooking or demons had swarmed from the oven and were overtaking the Institute. Jace was more inclined to believe one of the first two options and decided he would rather not deal with either of them in his current state.

As he walked the hallways to his room, Jace rubbed the sore spot on his stomach where Clary had jabbed his gut with her practice blade. It hadn't hurt that much at the time, as he was expecting it, but now it was feeling more like a nasty cramp and he really just wanted to get in the shower and relish in the hot water pouring over his sore, exhausted body.

Jace remembered that Isabelle had wanted to go demon-hunting this afternoon, but he could tell that that wasn't going to happen. Jace guessed that Isabelle didn't want to be one of those clingy girlfriends who hung around with her boyfriend all the time, so she told Simon to go play, whatever that meant. Jace suggested that he could hibernate in his attic until dusk and then fly into the night, feeding on innocent bystanders. Neither Simon nor Isabelle had laughed.

Dropping his bag on the floor of his room and kicking it towards the wall, Jace collapsed on his bed face-first. He knew that he should get up and shower because he smelled bad. Like, really bad. Turns out training for 3 hours is the equivalent of fighting a few Raum demon; jesus, they smelt bad.

Eventually, Jace sighed heavily and heaved himself up to take a shower. As he stood there, the hot water soothing his sore body, Jace thought about the training session.

Clary was so tired and he wanted a break almost as much as her but he needed to push Clary until she was completely spent, because otherwise, she wouldn't improve. Resilience, his fathe - No, Valentine, Jace scolded himself - had always told him, is the key to progress: if you want to improve yourself, you have to push until you are broken. Jace hoped that he would never see Clary as broken and finished as Jace always was at the end of a long training session with Valentine as a child. But, at the same time, Jace also knows how badly Clary wanted to improve so he always pushes her hard - too hard, in his opinion - so that the next day, she can go on for a little bit longer. And that is all the progress Clary needs.

If it were up to Jace, Clary would never touch another weapon in her life but he knows that Clary would never forgive him for that. Clary belongs with a stele in her hands. Jace loves to watch how Clary's lips pout and her nose scrunches up as she carves her intricate, unique designs onto the skin of people she loves.

Jace sighed and shut the shower off. He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to his drawers to pick out a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged his lean, but muscled chest.

Jace remembered Clary in the final battle with Sebastian. Just by looking at her in action is enough to know that she belongs on the battlefield, not as a spectator but as a soldier. And as much as Jace would love to deny it, she no longer needed him to keep her safe; she could hold her own. The Angel's blood ran in her veins, more potent than any other Shadowhunter, except for maybe himself.

Jace sat back on his bed and sighed. Clary shone like a brightly lit star by herself but with him, they could blind a thousand people and burn down the world with their light. Clary was 'it' for him. 'The one'. The person that he didn't even know could exist, until he met her. Jace was confident that they would be together forever, unless one of them did something stupid. Like Jace did. Today.

Jace groaned and rolled over onto his front, burying his face in his pillows. Clary didn't like it when he went soft on her; she always wanted to feel that she earned it when she won a fight. But sometimes, Jace just couldn't help it. It was hard to see her as a predator that he would lash out against, he could never even imagine hurting her. But he had to let that go when they were training, otherwise, Clary would never improve. She was good; but she could be better.

Jace took another deep breath before rolling off his bed to one side and catching himself before he hit the floor. He stood and walked to the door, wrenching it open and striding down the hallway. He would start in the kitchen and hopefully he could find her there, or if not, ask Isabelle if she had seen her.

Just before Jace reached the door, he heard low murmuring from the door of the kitchen, left slightly ajar. He identified Clary's voice immediately and when her companion spoke up, he recognised the loud, obnoxious tones as Isabelle.

" - never been fully comfortable with the idea of you as a trained fighter and after everything that's happened, he just wants to keep you safe," Isabelle finished as Jace leant closer to the door and observed the scene. Isabelle and Clary were seated next to each other at the marble counter, both with cups of steaming, what he assumed to be coffee, in front of them.

"I know. It's just really frustrating when he doesn't trust me enough to really try to beat me. I mean, if he doesn't even try, then how am I supposed to get any better?" Clary sighed as she finished her rant and fingered the rim of her coffee cup. She stared down at her hands, resting on the countertop.

Jace felt a slight twinge of guilt that he was eaves-dropping on his girlfriend and his sister's conversation but that feeling was quickly extinguished by his curiosity to hear more.

Isabelle rolled her eyes at her friend's antics, "It's not you he doesn't trust. It's himself. He's just worried that he's gonna go too far and hurt you. You know how much it would kill him to hurt you, even in an accident in training where he could easily just heal you with a rune." Isabelle grinned and said, "Gosh, I didn't even notice how cliché that sounded. 'It's not you, it's me'," Isabelle mocked and grinned wider.

Clary gave a small smile but didn't look up from her hands, now resting still on the counter. Isabelle's grin faded and she leant forward to take Clary's hands in her own.

Isabelle gave her parabatai a sad smile and shook her a little. "Look, I'm sorry. I know that it sucks because Jace is being a little pansy and holding back in training ... but, if I'm going to be completely and brutally honest ... Get over it."

Seeing Clary's shocked, indignant look, Isabelle hurried to explain herself. "I know, I know. This isn't about me, I don't know what I'm talking about, blah blah blah... But _really_? Does it _really_ matter that much to you that Jace is being a little conservative? It's training for crying out loud! You were tired, he was probably tired and you both needed to take a break. So, Jace took the easy way out to make you feel better and then, he was honest about it. I'm sorry to be insensitive but if it were me ... " Isabelle shrugged her shoulders delicately, "I'd let it go." Isabelle paused and watched Clary for a moment.

"You don't have to listen to me, you can go up to the greenhouse and sulk all day if you really want, but I'm telling you this because you're my best friend and you would have reached this conclusion anyway. Just ... later." Isabelle paused again to gauge her friend's reaction. Clary just sat there with her mouth half-open, having never been on the receiving end of one of Isabelle's long lectures and making a mental note to never have to sit through one ever again.

Isabelle took a deep breath and squeezed Clary's hands, "So can you please just go and make-up with your boyfriend, however you want to do it, I don't care and frankly, I don't want to know." Clary blushed and opened her mouth to scold her friend but Isabelle cut her off again. "Just do yourself - and everyone else, for that matter - a favour and go now so that we don't have to put up with two sulking Shadowhunters today."

Clary stood there, stunned for a minute. She opened and closed her mouth several times to protest but the words wouldn't come. Eventually Isabelle took her parabatai by her shoulders, spun her around and virtually pushed her out the door.

Isabelle sat down with her mug of coffee and toast, courtesy of Clary, and smiled.

Jace was so shocked at his sister's bold, but blunt, advice that he almost forgot that Clary was headed straight towards the door he was currently standing outside. Despite not feeling guilty about eaves-dropping on their conversation, Jace really did not want his girlfriend and his sister to find him standing outside the door, stammering and trying to explain himself. Especially since Isabelle had just saved his ass from an icy day of the cold-shoulder from Clary and an awkward make-up conversation - more like, lecture - later. He hurried down the hall to his room where he flung himself on his bed and picked up a book from his nightstand.

Jace just had enough time to even out his breathing and concentrate on the book he was currently holding before he heard a gentle knock on the door. Jace waited a moment so to avoid sounding too eager and called out a quick, "Come in," before Clary entered.

She slowly opened his door and slid inside the small crack before shutting it again. Jace stared at her body as she leant against the door frame with her hands behind her back; probably wringing her fingers together the way she did when she got nervous.

Jace waited patiently for her to speak, though he knew that she wouldn't be the only one apologising, judging from the conversation he had overheard in the kitchen. Isabelle may have saved Jace from having his balls frozen off but he knew he was going to have to explain himself before the whole training thing would blow over. Nevertheless, Clary came to him so her going to let her speak first.

"I'm sorry," Clary just blurted out. As she spoke she took a small step forward and fidgeted with her hands, "I over-reacted because you weren't trying as hard as you could to beat me and - " She stopped mid-lecture. "Why are you reading that book upside-down?" She frowned and opened her mouth to reprimand him but he cut her off, thinking quickly.

"I just found this page on Hydra demons and I wanted to see if they looked the same upside-down." Ok, so maybe not as smooth as he thought it would be. Jace cursed mentally.

"Right," Clary drew out the word and pursed her lips but made no further comment, accepting his farther strange excuse. She paused and before the awkward moment could be stretched out further, Jace spoke up.

"Look, it's not your fault. I'm still adjusting to the fact of you being a Shadowhunter and ... " Jace trailed off, not really knowing where he was taking this. Clary looked at Jace expectantly. He gave it one last try, "It's my problem. I'll deal with it and try to be fair to you, as your trainer. Not your boyfriend." Jace felt himself light up inside at his words and - if he was going to be honest - he had used the term to soften Clary up a little bit. After all that had happened, they were still getting used to the terms and dealing with the new rules and curfews, set by Jocelyn, that Jace just loved to break.

Jace took Clary's silence as an acceptance of his apology and he felt the need to speak up again to avoid another awkward moment after their little spat was smoothed over. "Do you want to go for a walk and then to Taki's for dinner? Isabelle told Simon to get lost for today, probably to maintain her authority in their relationship, and I think she's planning on cooking." Jace shuddered at the thought.

Clary mirrored his distaste and nodded her head in confirmation, "Sure. Let me just go and get changed and I'll be ready in 20 minutes."

Jace nodded and realised how awkward their position was: he was still standing at the foot of his bed and Clary stood a few feet from the door. Usually, they could hardly be in the same room together without touching. Some people - i.e. Isabelle - complained that their relationship was 'clingy' and needed to become more 'independent' but Jace liked things exactly how they were. He liked that Clary liked being so close to him all the time and being next to her always made him perk up. It was for that reason that Jace felt awkward just standing there and letting her just leave, so he made a hasty decision and lunged forward to wrap both his arms around Clary's waist and crushed his lips to hers.

After a brief moment of shock, Clary responded and twined her arms around his neck as she clutched tightly at him so that he couldn't tear himself away, even if he wanted to. Jace gently pushed Clary backwards until she was pressed against the door frame. After a brief battle, Clary allowed Jace dominance over their kiss as she twisted her fingers through his curls at the back of his neck and tugged lightly. Jace groaned slightly and pressed her harder against the door, causing Clary to gasp.

A sharp rap on the door broke the panting pair apart.

Isabelle's voice extinguished the brief thought to continue what they had just been doing. "I don't care if you're still having that petty argument or doing unspeakable things to each other, but I do care about your health and you guys need food. I'm making dinner so finish up quick and come to the kitchen." Isabelle walked off, humming quietly.

Clary and Jace stood leaning against the door, still intertwined and catching their breath. Jace laughed lightly and pressed his lips against her once more before pulling away and resting his forehead against hers.

"Do you think we can make a run for it?" Jace whispered, his breath stirring her hair.

Clary laughed breathily in response, "Maybe, but I need to change my clothes. Can we make a stop at my room first?"

"Why? You can borrow my clothes," Jace suggested, wiggling his eyebrows playfully and grinning mischievously. "You look good in them."

Clary laughed and shook her head at her silly boyfriend before kissing his cheek and extracting herself from his arms. Jace frowned and pulled her tighter against him. "I think I'll pass this time. Why don't you meet me at my room in 10 minutes?"

Jace pouted but agreed. He gave her one last kiss before releasing her and stepping back.

Clary walked to the door and let herself out, shutting the door quietly as she went.

As she turned around, she saw Isabelle leaning up against the wall, picking at her fingernails. Clary jumped in surprise and then scolded herself mentally; her Shadowhunter reflexes should prevented her from being crept up on.

"So, you and Jace work things out ok?' Isabelle asked, not looking up from her nails.

Clary tried hard not to blush; it was her tell-tale sign Isabelle had once told her. "Yeah ... We're ok."

Isabelle looked up and grinned suggestively at Clary, "I'm sure you did."

Clary's face definitely flushed a little at the that statement but her mind was working ahead trying to come up with an excuse to get away from Isabelle.

"I was just going to get changed before dinner."

Isabelle visually perked up and her grin widened. "Okie dokie, see you in a minute! Tell Jace that he is going to eat whatever I put in front of him and he will like it." With that, Isabelle turned and flounced off down the hallway to whatever travesty she was cooking in the kitchen.

Clary sighed and leaned against the wall. Just as she was about to move down the hallway to her own room, Jace poked his head out his door with a pale, terrified face. "Run, Clary, run! She's out to get me." Before Clary could respond, Jace shut his door.

Clary huffed and walked briskly to her room. She changed quickly, pulling on the jeans she wore the day before and a loose, flowy green top that Isabelle made her buy. Just as she was slipping her favourite pair of sneakers on, a quiet rap on her door made her look up and shuffle to open it. When she did, Jace stood there, glancing anxiously down the hallway, left and right. He glanced back at her and breathed a sigh of relief that she was dressed and ready. He reached for her hand and kissed her briefly before tugging her to the elevator.

They crept down the hallway and pressed the button. As they waited restlessly for the ancient elevator to rise to meet them, they listened anxiously for any indication that Isabelle had noticed their attempt to escape.

The elevator finally rose and they got in hurriedly, pressing the down button. When the elevator doors finally closed and began its descent, they breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed against each other.

Suddenly, the elevator abruptly stopped and began to rise. Clary and Jace looked at each other in alarm. Clary buried her face in Jace's chest as he held her tight. They held their breath and prepared for the worst just as the elevator doors opened and -

It was Alec.

He came rushing in and slamming the down button, breathing heavily. Clary and Jace relaxed immediately.

Alec bent forward at the hips and supported his arms on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. They all stood in silence, respecting their close brush with Death itself: Isabelle's cooking.

The elevator dinged as they arrived at the ground floor and they filed out. Outside the door of the Institute Alec spoke.

"I'm off to Magnus'. He's got some new delicacy from the 13th century for me to try." Seeing the pitiful looks on Jace and Clary's faces, Alec explained. "He promised to never ask me to eat anything that even slightly resembles Issy's cooking."

His friends nodded in relief before turning away and walking across the street to the park entrance. Clary huddled closer to Jace in the frosty November air as he wrapped his arm around her waist tightly. They cuddle together and walk down the street lit by dim streetlights, completely comfortable in each other's company.

**AN: Yeah...so not one of my best... I'm still new to the writing part of fanfiction so try not to judge me too harshly. I know that the storyline got very weird and out of proportion there but I just decided to post it anyway and see what other people had to say. **

**Honestly, I would be surprised if anyone has made it to the end to read this AN but thank you for sticking it out and seeing how it ended. Review please, they make me happy and flames are most welcome (especially after that piece of shit). Hope to update with a real story soon!**


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